However, it does leave out some of the downside in terms of Apple's plans and achievements in the area of Office productivity apps.

For instance there is no mention of the fact that the iPad apps are still feature incomplete relative to the desktop versions of iWork, ....

You use iWork daily, observe some flaws, and call it a placeholder Apple doesn't care about.

Want to expereience a real placeholder the vendor doesn't care about? Try Microsoft's Windows version of iMovie. Or try using Office for Mac. Completely ridiculous. iWork has some flaws, and the iOS apps are not (nor do they claim) feature parity, but they are usable as you noted yourself.

The fact is that Apple has put its iWork efforts into iOS in a very short time, and is set to release iCloud versions of its iOS iWork apps soon. After that, I'd expect a new set of iWorks apps with some additional Lion refinements (although a new rev, albeit free, has shipped).

Compare the editing capabilities of iWork iOS/Mac against other versions of "mobile" office apps from Microsoft and others, and I think you'll be forced to agree that Apple currently makes the best mobile suite around.

The fact that Microsoft really doesn't have a functional mobile suite (or a real tablet platform to deploy them on) is kind of the point of the article I think. I mean really, Microsoft has a monopoly on both Windows and Office and is just letting Apple step on the their face in the mobile market, which is where growth is happening.

This is really incredible. Even more incredible is that AI is the only source to recognize this. Wait a year and everyone will catch up to what DED is saying today.

Compare the editing capabilities of iWork iOS/Mac against other versions of "mobile" office apps from Microsoft and others, and I think you'll be forced to agree that Apple currently makes the best mobile suite around.

However, it does leave out some of the downside in terms of Apple's plans and achievements in the area of Office productivity apps.

For instance there is no mention of the fact that the iPad apps are still feature incomplete relative to the desktop versions of iWork, that the feature set of both versions is rather minimal at best, and that Apple has a long history of botching Office productivity apps by basically letting them languish after the initial version.

Pages for instance has hardly changed or evolved at all from the very first desktop version and while it's simpler and better designed than MS Word, it's neither as powerful nor as flexible. The mobile version is not even as good as that. There is still no pagination, no hyphenation and no stylesheet control (even though the entire program is based on stylesheets), in the mobile app and moving a document from the desktop to a mobile device, currently changes the format of the file in ridiculous ways.

I use iWork exclusively and as a writer I use Pages for everything I create both on the desktop and the iPad. I use Pages day in and day out on the iPad and on multiple computers and I'm well aware of what it can (and cannot) do. As far as I can see, Apple has shown little sign that they really care that much about those of us that have switched to their productivity apps. The iWork mobile apps feels very much like "placeholder" apps to me. IMO Apple really needs to step up their game here or they will be steamrollered.

I'm really rooting for Apple to pull it off this time, but it bears saying that even though Apple is currently far ahead of Microsoft on the mobile word processing front, there is still ample time for them to f*ck it up as they have before.

If Microsoft wasn't so colossally stupid, they would already have made iOS versions of Word and Excel, and already no one would rat's behind about iWork at all. The fact that Microsft has that idiot Balmer in charge and has reacted so slowly to the threat has given Apple a golden opportunity, that so far, they have squandered IMO.

Given the sheer volume of people using iOS devices, if they actually had a workable Office competitor on iOS that integrated with a workable competitor to office on the desktop, they might even be able to destroy the Office monopoly because their approach and their basic design is superior and the pressure of so many people using an alternative might get it to catch on. I worry however that they will simply display the hubris they have shown so many times and fail completely at this.

I agree with almost all of this.

I am disappointed with missing features in Pages on the iPad.

Same with performance of Pages on the Mac.

There is, however, a hidden capability of Pages Mac -- that most people don't know exists.

Pages Mac is, by far, the best app for creating free-form collages -- of any size including very large posters. Here are a few examples:

These are small renditions of 16" x 20" posters that can be ordered from CostCo or Kodak for a couple of bucks.

Pages Mac has great capabilities for adjusting image parameters, arranging, resizing, clipping and masking photos -- for example the Star in the first and second collages is a shape mask. You can adjust the size of the mask and the size/location of the image within the mask. You can use Bezier curves to create a mask that outlines a person and separates him from a background.

I own $300 programs that can't do this as easily as Pages Mac at $29.

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

Quite a bit less portable if you have to lug a bluetooth keyboard around. Makes you wish they'd attach the keyboard with a hinge that could also hold the screen at a convenient viewing angle...

Ergonomically for data entry, an iPad + a keyboard is worse than a MacBook Air. A track pad is better than a touch screen for repositioning the cursor/selecting text, and it allows your hands to remain in place. Airs are also very quiet.

Dude, lighten up. I was trying to be kind. Maybe he has no contract, maybe he just spews this stuff randomly in some sort of literary equivalent of Tourette syndrome, and posts it here out of the goodness of his heart.

Perhaps he doesn't even have a job with AI, no job requirements at all. Maybe he just hacks in here to post this random stuff (which explains the absence of proofreading), and the site owners never stop it because it keeps bringing eyeballs in.

Pages Mac has great capabilities for adjusting image parameters, arranging, resizing, clipping and masking photos -- for example the Star in the first and second collages is a shape mask. You can adjust the size of the mask and the size/location of the image within the mask. You can use Bezier curves to create a mask that outlines a person and separates him from a background.

I own $300 programs that can't do this as easily as Pages Mac at $29.

That is good information Dick but a couple questions. I am not that familiar with Pages since I use it infrequently only to open Word docs. How are the export functions for such large posters? When I do posters in Adobe CS, I have lots of compression, bleed, colorspace options which are essential to send something to prepress. How well does Pages handle CMYK pdf export?

One of my beefs with Numbers on the iPad: normally if you put a formula in a cell, you can over-type it if you wish. I have a need for this where I have cells that accept an existing number (in this case, I am counting and identifying light fixtures for retrofit or replacement). I tried to have it where the "proposed" quantity wold pick up the existing, but that I could overtype the formula (=cell-with-existing-qty).

Pundits are out of their minds. I see no reason at this moment why anyone would get anything other than an iPad. If they start hammering these things out at $199 they may have a chance, but as it stands, I think people will avoid the MS tablets, and developers will do the same.

I was not referring to their tablets, but their desktop os. Not exactly the point of the article, I know, but i was responding more to those who see MS's downfall in their crystal balls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Constable Odo

I certainly don't expect Microsoft to fall to it knees, but I still don't see why pundits are assuming that consumers will flock to Windows 8 tablets since currently, consumers are not exactly flocking to Windows Phone 7 which seems to be rather similar in function. What is going to be the big consumer lure to throw away iPads just to get a Windows 8 tablet? I can maybe understand tech-heads or even businesses wanting to pilot Win8 tablets, but consumers, no.

Microsoft is going to have to start from zero developing apps for the Win8 tablet and Apple will already have 100,000+ apps, games and content ready to go. And that's assuming Microsoft can get everything right on the first shot. Any major problems could ruin Microsoft on the tablet front. I believe Windows 8 on the desktop will be fine for users, both consumers and corporations. Honestly, Windows 8 is just too far off to make any calls, good or bad. It needs to get into consumers and businesses hands before any judgment is passed.

Typing on a tablet is horrible. Just horrible. You'd have to be masochistic to do much data entry that way. So who cares if Office is available for touch based platforms. Watch a movie, read a book, play a game, OK. Fill in cells in a spreadsheet? No freakin way.

It may be horrible for you -- because you are used to, and comfortable with, something else.

Last night, my 11-year-old grandson realized that a report was due today. He wipped out his iPad, started Pages, and was done in 1/2 an hour.

He is more comfortable with the iPad than with an iMac... ...something about having fewer choices makes things faster and easier.

He had to AirPrint the report and put it in a cover so he could turn it in...

Now, if his middle school allowed it, he could have given a Keynote preso

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

However, it does leave out some of the downside in terms of Apple's plans and achievements in the area of Office productivity apps.

For instance there is no mention of the fact that the iPad apps are still feature incomplete relative to the desktop versions of iWork, that the feature set of both versions is rather minimal at best, and that Apple has a long history of botching Office productivity apps by basically letting them languish after the initial version.

Pages for instance has hardly changed or evolved at all from the very first desktop version and while it's simpler and better designed than MS Word, it's neither as powerful nor as flexible. The mobile version is not even as good as that. There is still no pagination, no hyphenation and no stylesheet control (even though the entire program is based on stylesheets), in the mobile app and moving a document from the desktop to a mobile device, currently changes the format of the file in ridiculous ways.

I use iWork exclusively and as a writer I use Pages for everything I create both on the desktop and the iPad. I use Pages day in and day out on the iPad and on multiple computers and I'm well aware of what it can (and cannot) do. As far as I can see, Apple has shown little sign that they really care that much about those of us that have switched to their productivity apps. The iWork mobile apps feels very much like "placeholder" apps to me. IMO Apple really needs to step up their game here or they will be steamrollered.

I'm really rooting for Apple to pull it off this time, but it bears saying that even though Apple is currently far ahead of Microsoft on the mobile word processing front, there is still ample time for them to f*ck it up as they have before.

If Microsoft wasn't so colossally stupid, they would already have made iOS versions of Word and Excel, and already no one would rat's behind about iWork at all. The fact that Microsft has that idiot Balmer in charge and has reacted so slowly to the threat has given Apple a golden opportunity, that so far, they have squandered IMO.

Given the sheer volume of people using iOS devices, if they actually had a workable Office competitor on iOS that integrated with a workable competitor to office on the desktop, they might even be able to destroy the Office monopoly because their approach and their basic design is superior and the pressure of so many people using an alternative might get it to catch on. I worry however that they will simply display the hubris they have shown so many times and fail completely at this.

I agree strongly with your sentiments. I too use Pages every day, even producing large display documents in Pages where I would previously have used Illustrator. I hope that Apple gives the iWork suite top priority.

That is good information Dick but a couple questions. I am not that familiar with Pages since I use it infrequently only to open Word docs. How are the export functions for such large posters? When I do posters in Adobe CS, I have lots of compression, bleed, colorspace options which are essential to send something to prepress. How well does Pages handle CMYK pdf export?

Pages exports a PDF file -- as to the CMYK, I dunno -- give it a try (and report back, please).

I open the Pages exports in Preview where you can save them as almost anything.

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

As usual, DED brings brilliant insight into the Apple and MSFT markets. The recent Atlantic editorial basically condemning Apple fanboys / Apple fanatics was a grossly misdirected piece. Apple fans have been taking it in the butt from Wintel techtards for years. And now that Apple has overtaken the market in key areas, and seen its Mac business explode, it is only fair to turn the tables for it is only Apple fans that truly understand how much better the Apple universe is after being sold bloated, buggy, counter intuitive and expensive crapware by MSFT for decades. Not to mention MSFT's illegal anti-competitive activities. It is refreshing to know that MSFT has become irrelevant in the mobile space and good riddance!

Although aware that MSFT stabbed IBM in the back by walking away from the joint OS2 project, I was unaware that they had actually encouraged their competitors to develop for the OS2 platform as a priority before hand, thus eliminating them as competitors. Once again making this company is an easy one to hate.

It may be horrible for you -- because you are used to, and comfortable with, something else

No, it is horrible because you can not rest your fingers on the glass, meaning you can not get any tactile feedback about where your fingers are positioned, meaning you must continually look to see if you are pressing the right key.

As someone else mentioned, I doubt your 11 year old is a touch typist (ironic phrase now that I think about it)... and if he keeps typing on the iPad he never will be.

That is good information Dick but a couple questions. I am not that familiar with Pages since I use it infrequently only to open Word docs. How are the export functions for such large posters? When I do posters in Adobe CS, I have lots of compression, bleed, colorspace options which are essential to send something to prepress. How well does Pages handle CMYK pdf export?

This might not answer your question, however, there is at least an ability to manipulate CMYK space when exporting to PDF. I recently had an A0 document printed and was actually surprised at how closely the output matched my expectations. Producing these documents is only incidental to my work though and so, partial capabilities in Pages are acceptable. For me, the biggest advance to Pages came once tighter integration was achieved with EndNote, a big plus.

Dude, WTF is with you? Do you actually have anything intelligent to add to this site? Jobs is talking about a handheld touch-based world where the overwhelming majority of computer users can do 95% of what they use their computer for without a desktop. And you can always add an inexpensive portable bluetooth keyboard for data input if that's your thing. Go take a nap please.

Windows users are old fashioned, unlike cutting edge Mac users. Microsoft is investing heavily in multitouch, and hardly any windows user even knows what that is or has even used it before. State of the art for them is a mouse and a beige keyboard, while Mac users have been using state of the art multitouch devices for many years in Apple laptops and now on desktops with the Magic Trackpad and of course on iOS devices with their touch screens.

Windows 8 on a desktop with those huge tiles looks like it was designed for either senior citizens who have really bad vision problems or for toddlers, take your pick.

Bullshit. I use both Windows and OS X. I also have an iPhone and a Samsung Focus. We also use an Apple TV and a PS3 for 90% of our video needs. I am hardly old fashioned. Get off your Apple fanboy high horse.

By the way, which OS, Windows Vista/7/8, OS X, or iOS has true handwriting recognition? Which OS will let me write in Japanese naturally without having to type? Each OS and hardware has its strengths and weaknesses. Get over yourself.

Well see the deal is that Apple is private about everything and churns out a series of successful devices at a regular clip.

Microsoft creates a lot of hype about products well in advance, advertises features it won't actually deliver, seeds expectations that never materialize, and then people are still surprised when the product ultimately doesn't sell.

So when Microsoft fails to clearly articulate a key part of its strategy (such as the fact that Windows apps won't run on "Windows" tablets, or that Office isn't something they even have on the drawing board) it's news.

It's actually more newsworthy than when they trot out some vaporware like Courier to battle the iPad in the netherworld of fans' imaginations.

Dude, WTF is with you? Do you actually have anything intelligent to add to this site? Jobs is talking about a handheld touch-based world where the overwhelming majority of computer users can do 95% of what they use their computer for without a desktop. And you can always add an inexpensive portable bluetooth keyboard for data input if that's your thing. Go take a nap please.

To be a touch typist means you type "by touch." In other words you can look elsewhere while you are typing. That's the only way you can really disconnect your mind from the action of typing and focus on what you have to say. Imagine trying to drive a car if every time you wanted to turn the steering wheel you had to look down, confirm that your finger was correctly positioned over the steering-wheel widget, and then move your finger. You'd crash pretty quickly. This is also why touch-screens in cars are a real bad idea: you can't reach over and feel the knob or button, you actually have to take your eyes off the road. The best way to learn to type is with keyboard that has no letters painted on it. To simulate this, have your grandson hover his fingers over the keys, then tape a piece of paper to the backs of his hands so he can see the typing area, but not the letters on the keyboard. Good luck.

No, it is horrible because you can not rest your fingers on the glass, meaning you can not get any tactile feedback about where your fingers are positioned, meaning you must continually look to see if you are pressing the right key.

As someone else mentioned, I doubt your 11 year old is a touch typist (ironic phrase now that I think about it)... and if he keeps typing on the iPad he never will be.

And, that's a good thing!

I suspect that virtual kbs will evolve -- They've been at it for about 4 years, while physical kbs have been around (and refined over 100 years)

Here's what I think we'll see:
-- haptics to give a sense of touch
-- home row is wherever you place your hands
-- the virtual kb adapts to hand placement, finger size and spacing, etc.
-- instead of a down/up keystroke it will use an up/down, wiggle, or press-hard/relax keystroke
-- movement from the home row could be calculated by the device from the distance, speed, force you slide a finger (you don't actually need to reach the desired key, just move in that direction)

If typing is rethought and redesigned to take advantage of the capabilities of an intelligent virtual kb -- I suspect we could achieve greater typing speed and accuracy, while decreasing muscle issues like carpel tunnel.

Those coming from being a good touch-typist on a physical kb, likely, will have difficuty adapting.

Those coming fresh to an intelligent virtual kb will learn as a matter of course -- the intelligent virtual kb will adapt to them!

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

Bullshit. I use both Windows and OS X. I also have an iPhone and a Samsung Focus. We also use an Apple TV and a PS3 for 90% of our video needs. I am hardly old fashioned. Get off your Apple fanboy high horse.

By the way, which OS, Windows Vista/7/8, OS X, or iOS has true handwriting recognition? Which OS will let me write in Japanese naturally without having to type? Each OS and hardware has its strengths and weaknesses. Get over yourself.

Dude, get off YOUR high horse! What he says is actually true. Windows is nothing more than the same old reused bloated buggy insecure code that is poorly written and carries a lot of legacy crap. The fact that you use both is irrelevant. The Mac universe is a far better platform! its not just about the OS. Further, to your question about Japanese, that would be iOS of course. As well as for Chinese. Get over yourself!